Washing machine filter



WASHING MACHINE FILTER )Valale Giamhrkni INVENTOR. :5

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United States Patent Oflice 3,407,633 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 1 Claims. (or. 68-18) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A filter is positioned between the tub outlet and drain of a washing machine. The filter may be removed for cleansing through an opening formed in the upper portion of the washing machine body.

This invention relates to a washingmachine and more particularly to the installation of a filter in the body of a cloth-washing machine or a dish-washing machine.

It is known that many washing machines are equipped with a filter whose function is to filter the water ejected from the washing tub of a washing machine by means of a drain pump which is generally positioned beneath the lowest point of the tub, to which it is connected by a drain pipe.

conventionally, the filter is an integral part of the pump body or, more frequently, it is serially placed in the drain pipe and can be installed in (or, alternatively, removed from) the machine through a perforation formed through the wall of the duct, whereat it is affixed with locking means: it is usual, anyhow, to place the filter beneath the lowest point of the washing tubof the machine and can be accessed to and removed only through an opening formed through the lower portion of the washing machine body.

Many a drawback is thus originated, the most significant of which are:

(a) Whenever, during the performance of a washing step, the necessity arises of removing the filter for cleaning, for example because it is wholly clogged, it is necessary, first, that the operation of the washing machine be discontinued and all the water contained in the washing tub be discharged without being allowed to resort to the pump of the machine, whereafter the filter can be removed from the machine and cleaned. As a matter of fact, if the procedure outlined above is not adopted, the water contents of the tub would pour on the floor as the filter is removed from its seating in the drain pipe, through the opening formed through the wall of said pipe.

(b) When the filter is removed for cleaning once a washing cycle is over, when the pump has dumped the water from the washing tub, water seeps through the hole formed in the drain pipe and falls on the floor while wetting the inner sheet metal parts of the machine, thus causing a rapid wear thereof. It is virtually impossible, indeed, to dump out with the pump all the water contained in the washing machine.

(c) In order that no seepage of water may take place during progress of a washing step through the opening formed through the drain-pipe wall, where the filter is mounted, tightsealing members ought to be catered for, which, however, make the insertion and locking in place in the duct, as well as its unlocking and removal inconvenient. A result of this fact, and also of the fact that the filter can be accessed to through an opening formed through the lower portion of the washing machine body, that is, in an awkard location, is that the housewife using the machine, instead of cleaning the filter after each washing cycle, makes up her mind, very often, to remove and clean the filter only after the latter is so severely clogged as to hinder waterflow.

An object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine wherein the filter is so positioned as to be removable even during progress of a washing step, or, anyhow, when the washing tub of the machine is filled with water, without suliering even from slightest water oozings.

Another object is to provide means enabling the filter to be removed through an opening formed in the upper portion of the washing machine body, above the highest level water can reach in the machine.

A further object is to do away with intricate hydraulic seals on the filter, so that the latter can either be removed or replaced in its operative position, rapidly and conveniently, even by untrained individuals.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved in a washing machine comprising a washing tub, a drain pump, a drain pipe connecting said washing tub to said pump, and a movable filter positioned between said tub and said pump for monitoring the water flow sucked by the pump as said pump is dumping the water from the washing tub, said machine being characterized by comprising a tubular chamber extending from bottom to top in said machine, said chamber having near its bottom end a seating for positioning said filter, the top end of said chamber being open and accessible through an opening formed through the machine body and located above the maximum level the water is to attain in the washing tub when the machine is in normal operational run, the cross-sectional area of said chamber and the area of said opening being at least equal to the filters cross-sectional area, said drain pipe comprising two duct sections, the first of which connects the washing tub with said chamber above said filter seating, a second section connecting said pump, with the duct at the lowest point of said seating, the filter, having solid therewith, an end of a rod whose length is substantially equal to the length of said chamber.

In order that the structure and the features of the machine may be better understood, two embodiments there of will be now described by way of example only, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatical front view, partially in cross-section, of an embodiment of the machine, and

FIGURE 2 shows, also in diagrammatical front view, partly in section, an alternative embodiment of the machine.

The two machines shown, FIGS. l and 2, are clothwashing machines having a horizontal basket and comprise a washing tub 1, within which a horizontal-axis tub has been shown in phantom, and a centrifugal pump 10 whose delivery end is connected to the end of a flexible drain pipe 11. The machine shown in FIG. 1 comprises a cylindrical tubular chamber 8 having vertical walls, and whose bottom portion 4 is shaped so as to house a filter 5 of conventional make. The chamber 8 is extended upwards so as to reach the upper horizontal surface of the machine body and has an open upper end which can be accessed to through an opening formed through said body.

As seen from FIG. 1, the cross-sectional area of the chamber 8 above the portion 4 is very much the same as the maximum cross-sectional area of the filter 5, to which a stifi rod 6 is afiixed having at its own upper end a handle or knob 7. The latter, when the filter 5 is positioned in its seating 4, is housed on the opening formed in the machine body. The washing tub I is connected to the chamber 8, above the filter seating 4, via a duct 2 having a flexible section 3. The lower portion of the chamber 8, downstream of the filter 5 (see FIG. 1) is connected to the suction side of the pump 10- via a drain duct 9. The machine, moreover, is equipped with all those component parts and devices which are conventional and required for its operation and which. are not described and shown herein for the sake of simplicity, as they are (a unnecessary details to the end of a proper understanding of the invention.

When, on completion of a washing cycle, the pump 10 dumps, out of the tub 1, the Water which has been used for said washing cycle, delivering it through the tube 11, said water comes to the tub pump through the conduits 2, 3 and 9 after having been passed through the filter 5. On completion of the washing cycle, or also during the performance of a washing step, the filter can be removed from the chamber 8 so as to clean it, without having to suffer from spillage of water from the machine, or Without discontinuing the operation thereof. On account of the simplicity and rapidity of the filter-cleaning manipulations, the housewife using the machine is induced to clean the filter frequently.

The machine shown in FIG. 2 differs from the one of FIG. 1 only in that the upper portion of the chamber 8 is bent and its upper end can be accessed to through a window formed in the front wall of the machine, the window being closed by a door 12. It should be noticed that it is essential to position said uppermost open end of the chamber 8' above the maximum level the water may attain in the tub 1 during the operation of the machine.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2 the filter 5 (shown seated in a housing 4' formed in the lower portion of the chamber 8) has, solid therewith, a flexible rod 6 whose upper end is just behind the door 12.

What is claimed is:

1. A washing machine comprising a washing tub, a drain pump, a drain pipe connecting said washing tab to said pump, and a movable filter positioned between said tub and said pump for monitoring the water flow sucked by the pump as said pump is dumping water from the washing tub, said machine comprising a tubular chamber extending from bottom to top in said machine, said chamber having near its bottom end a seating for positioning said filter, the top end of said chamber being open and accessible through an opening formed through the machine body and located above the maximum level the water is to attain in. the washing tub when the machine is in normal operational min, the crosssectional area of said chamber and the area of said opening being at least equal to the filters cross-sectional area, said drain pipe comprising two duct sections, the first of which connects the washing tub with said chamber above said filter seating, a second section connecting said pump with the duct substantially at the lowest point of said seating, the filter having, solid therewith, an end of a rod whose length is substantially equal to the length of said chamber.

2. A Washing machine according to claim 1, wherein said opening formed in the machine body is closed by a door.

3. A washing machine according to claim 1, wherein said rod has a handle which comes in registry with said opening when the filter is housed in its own seating.

4. A washing machine according to claim 1, wherein said chamber is cylindrical with vertical walls.

5. A washing machine according to claim 4, wherein said rod is stifi.

6. A washing machine according to claim 1, wherein at least the upper portion of said chamber is curved and its open end is in registry with, and can be accessed through, an opening formed through a sidewall of said machine.

7. A washing machine according to claim 6, wherein said rod is flexible.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,998 4/1893 Perkins 210-238 2,087,571 7/1937 Frantz et a] 210-416 X 2,621,797 12/1952 Smith 210-152 X REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary Examiner.

J. ADEE, Assistant Examiner. 

